Ying+-+Hozanna

. One day, me, my parents and my older brother were walking home from a day trip. At that time, I was 3 years old, living in China. At that time, there had been news that a man had been kidnapping girls around the ages of 2 or 3 and selling them. It was not a good time to get lost. We lived in an apartment with many floors. Me and my older brother were always competing, and as the little sister, I was tired of losing all the time. So when we got home, I raced my brother up the stairs, determined to win the race to our apartment. I kept running upstairs and ran past our apartment. I kept going up and up and up as fast as I could. I didn’t even realize that I had passed our floor and kept going up. Suddenly, I realized that no one was following me. I thought to myself, “I must be too fast for my brother. I think I’ll wait for him”. So I sat on the stairs and waited Eventually I became bored and started to run down the stairs to look for my family. I ran up and down for a long time. I began to get scared. “Where is my family?!” After 2 hours of searching, I was too tired to run anymore, so I sat on the stairs and cried. All of sudden, a door behind me opened and a lady stepped out. She invited me in. She seemed nice so I followed her into her apartment. There I sat and played with Christmas ornaments.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The lady opened the door and standing there were my parents, brother and their friends! I was ecstatic and relieved. I ran to hug my mom and dad. I was so happy to be back together with my family and I promised them I would never race them home again.

This is me.

Hi, Hozanna .Nice to meet you. Sorry to write to you so late. My name is ZhuYing. Ying is my given name which means Jade.I'm a sophomore at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine majoring in Medical English which means besides learning English we'll have some traditional Chinese medicine classes. I'm 19 years old. I’m the only child of my parents. At early ages, I was very timid and afraid to meet strangers, but I liked nature very much. I can’t remember much before five years old. When I was young, there was a field near my home. In spring there was wild flowers everywhere. My friends and I would fly kites ,catch fish, that’s really enjoyable. Then when I was about 10, we moved. Though the residential area we live now has a beautiful garden, but I still miss the field very much. It makes me feel closer to nature.

Jan.24,2009 How are you these days? I've come back to my hometown HangZhou now. The Chinese New Year is coming.That's the time for every family to get together .We will celebrate the "牛"year(the year of the ox).There are 12 Chinese animal signs in all.The signs are a 12-year cycle used for dating the years. Rat,Ox,Tiger,Rabbit,Dragon,Snake,Horse,Goat,Monkey,Rooster,Dog and Pig.Each has its symbolic meaning. Happy 牛 Year!

March 18, 2009 I'm sorry It took me so long to reply! I've been very busy with school and college plans. Thank you for being so patient. How have you been? We have a lot in common. When I was younger, I was very shy and scared to talk to people too! I spent a lot of my time in the bamboo forest behind my house in Tokyo when I was about 6 or 7 years old. It's one of my favorite memories. I moved from Japan when I was 8 years old to live in Oxford, England. I spent 8 years there and then I moved to Colorado in 2007. I turned 18 on March 1st! But I still don't have a driving license. :P I think I was born in the year of the Goat, in 1991. What about you?

May 1st,2009 Sorry to write to you so late.It seems we often apologise for thisI just finished two exams.One was about traditional Chinese medicine.I have to memorize the functions and applications of about 100 kinds of medicial materials.I don't have a good memory,so it's really a difficult task for me.The other one was specially designed to test the English ability of English majors.It'important ,because we can't graduate without the certificate.

I always dream about traveling around the world but I never travel abroad before.Tyoko,Oxford,and your new home ,they're all well-known beautiful places.I wish one day I could be a backpacker and visit these places.And I have a little question here, will this living experience affect your manner and accent?Because in my mind ,the British people are very gentle ,reserved while the Americans are very passionate .Will the cultural differences have influence on your character?

Now, go back to your question.Well,I'm two years older than you.I was born in the year of Snake ,(1989.5.11).And I will be 20 soon :) Today is May Day,so I'll have a three-day rest.Unfortunately,I sprained my left foot lask week, so I'll just spend this holiday in my dorm to help my foot recover.I'll spend some time reading novels and watching movies.Have you seen the movie Twilight?All my roommates like it,me too. By the way,what kind of movie do you like?I like watching movies very much.I prefer to watch science fiction,crime and adventure movies.

Finally,Happy Birthday.Sorry it's too late ,but I do think 18 is quite an significant age.It means you're an adult now,you should be more responsible,independent and make plans for your future.You said you were busy with college plans.Which will you care about more ,the college or the major?Which major do you like best?

May 5th, 2009 Don't worry about it, no need to apologize. :) I hope the exams went well! That sounds like a lot of hard work! I think the Chinese work a lot harder than Americans ;). We're pretty lazy. To answer your question, yes. Living in so many different cultures has definitely given me a special outlook on life. I guess I have a 'bigger picture' of what people are like around the world. I had a british accent when I lived there, but the first week I began living in America, my accent was gone. But even without a British accent, it was hard to catch up on American slang because it's so different to British slang. I actually found the British people to be very reserved, and sometimes rude, haha. But I made a lot of really great friends there. Americans are a lot more friendly, but it's harder to make really good friends. ...(I have to go now, but I'll finish this later!!)